Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of John chapter 10. John chapter 10. As we have been going through
this blessed book, we have been reading about a
conversation between our Lord and a group of Pharisees concerning
the healing of a blind beggar. Now, this latter part of this
conversation was a result of a statement that the Lord Jesus
Christ made about concerning this newly regenerated
beggar. that was overheard by the Pharisees. The Lord said, for judgment, I have come into this world,
where He said in verse 39, that they which see not might see,
and that they which see might be made blind. Now what He said
was this, when He said, came for judgment. What he's saying
is, I came to reveal God's choice. God's judgment. God's choice concerning compassion
that he has everlastingly had toward his people in particular. Lord, when he made that statement
and it was overheard by those Pharisees, they knew that he
made reference to them. And they asked this question,
are we blind also? And the Lord said, if you were
blind, if you did know your natural blindness in Adam's fall, if
you knew, You should have no sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore your sin remaineth.
Now that conversation continues right on into chapter 10. We'll
look at Lord willing verses 1, 2, 3. Now here I'm going to tell
you is the point. The whole point of these three
verses. The Pharisees thought that they
were God's appointed shepherds to God's people. That they were
the ones who were capable because of their lineage to Abraham,
the bloodline. That they were the blessed of
God and therefore capable of teaching, instructing God's people,
and that God Almighty, through them, would call out all of His
sheep, bring them to Himself. That's what they thought. And
our Lord, in these three verses, 1, 2, 3, of John 10, is going
to set forth the truth of himself alone being God's shepherd. And that the Pharisees were truly
nothing more than thieves and robbers. Here is the evidence of a false
teacher. Right here. Verse 1 and 2, Verily,
verily, I, the Lord, speaking, Verily, verily, I say unto you,"
now he's talking to the Pharisees that have rebuked him, questioned
him, told him he's just a sinner. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."
Now, this first statement made by our Lord is a rebuke to these
Pharisees, and let me tell you this, all that think like they
do. And I'll try to explain what
I'm saying. That these Pharisees and all
that think like they do. This statement was a rebuke to
them who had set themselves up as shepherds and guides to the
Jews. When that heel beggar stood his
ground when he talked to those Pharisees. And he said back in
chapter 9, verse 33, he said, If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. Verse 34, They answered and said
unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach
us? They cast him out. They excommunicated
him. They truly believed. that they
were qualified, that they were God-ordained shepherds to guide
God's people. And our Lord sets forth now a
very well-known scenario that they all understood, and it was
concerning a practice of getting different flocks of sheep into
a sheepfold at night and getting them into the door and having
to go past the porter and getting all in there and having them
safely kept during the night. Now, in every village there was
a large sheepfold. It was common property. And different shepherds would
bring their particular flocks. And they got those flocks, and
they put the flocks through the door. One place in, one place
out. And they left them in the care
of the porter. He was the one, he was the guard,
he was the one posted at that one place. to make sure that
the sheep got in and the sheep couldn't get out unless the shepherd
that belonged to those sheep, and those sheep that belonged
to this particular shepherd, came and got them. Now, he guarded
that door at Port-au-Den. He protected all of those sheep
against animals and thieves and robbers They couldn't get out
until their shepherd came in the morning. All of these different
shepherds would return. And whenever the porter was satisfied
that that is a legitimate shepherd. Now remember, these are all different. I mean, there's a bunch of different
flocks in there. They're just all in there. I
mean, all these sheep don't belong to one person. They belonged
to a bunch of different shepherds. And whenever a particular shepherd,
the porter recognized him and said, okay, you're legitimate.
I know who you are. I saw you last night. You can
go on in there and you call out the sheep that belong to you.
Now, whenever he'd go in there and he would speak, his sheep,
his particular sheep, heard his voice. And they recognized his
voice. And he would lead them out. And
those sheep, here comes one, and there comes one from back
there, and here comes one, and all these different ones. Now
the others stood there. Those other sheep stood right
there. They didn't recognize the voice of that shepherd. His
sheep came out. Now to understand to what our
Lord was referring in these two verses concerning this sheepfold. We must understand what our Lord
is setting forth concerning satisfaction to the law, God's pleasure, God's
will. He's speaking to these Pharisees.
Now here's the first question. To what is our Lord referring
when he speaks of the sheepfold? Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Our Lord,
first of all, is not Speaking of heaven, for thieves and robbers
do not climb up into it. This sheepfold is not the church
because the Lord doesn't lead them out of it. What he says,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as
a thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, the
sheep hear his voice, he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth
them out." The Lord doesn't lead His sheep out of the church.
Thieves and robbers don't climb into heaven. They don't climb
into the church some other way. Then to what is he referring
when he's talking to these Pharisees concerning this sheepfold? That word, sheepfold, right there. Look it up. You know what it
means? The yard. The yard. This sheepfold is actually, well,
And this passage in particular is speaking of Judaism, but it's
all work-based false religion. Man-centered. Man-thinking that
he is able to enter in by his own ability. These Pharisees,
they trusted in themselves that they were righteous, in themselves
that they were righteous. where Abraham's seat. That rich,
young ruler, the Lord asked him, he said, what are the commandments?
Well, don't kill. He said, I kept my youth up.
I've never offended. Paul the Apostle said of himself
as Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, he said concerning the law, what? Blameless. Blameless. Our Lord is speaking concerning
this sheepfold right here. That is Judaism, all work-based
religion. This sheepfold, within that sheepfold
of Judaism and every other false religion that this world has
ever known, Out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue,
God has a people. And they're all in the yard. They're in this world. They're
in this world. God has a people in this world.
Now, I know this. God has one foe. Verse 16, Lord
willing, we'll get to this in a few weeks. Verse 16 of this
book, right here, this chapter I mean. Or the sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Now in this sheep fold right here, there was different sheep. Different shepherds went into
this sheep fold right here. And different shepherds would
lead out their sheep out of this. But I'm talking about God's sheep.
God's sheep. The true Shepherd of Almighty
God was going to lead out His people through the door. The porter, verse 3, to Him openeth. The sheep hear His voice. He
calleth His own sheep by name and leads them out. The door.
Okay, well, if the sheepfold is This Judaism, works-based
religion, and there's all kinds of sheep in there. But God's
got an elect. The Lord did not cast away the
Jews. God had some people that were
His elect out of the nation of Israel. And He's going to call
them out of darkness. Now, I know, by and large, as
a general rule, the Jews rejected Him, but not all of them. There
was a remnant according to the election of grace. God had a
people in this. And within that sheepfold that
those Pharisees claimed that they were the spokesmen for God,
that they were qualified to speak on God's behalf. Our Lord says
concerning them, He said, No, nobody is true but he that goes
in by the door. and leads them out by the door.
That sheepfold had all of those sheep enclosed and they couldn't
get out until they were let out. The door and the porter was the
only way out for the sheep. That porter had to be satisfied. The door and the porter to this
sheepfold And I'm talking about, my friend, just go ahead and
get it in your mind, this sheepfold is everybody in this world. Everybody
in this world's in the yard. And there's only one way out
of that yard. There's only one way out of that
conglomeration of all these different people, these different sheep
in that reference right there. Some sheep and some goats. And
in the yard, there's only sheep and goats. But where are they
going to have to come out of the yard? Through the door. Through
the door. And the porter is going to have
to let them out. They're going to have to be let
out. And that porter is going to have to say, free. Free. What is the door in this
reference right here? Now, I know, and we're going
to find later that our Lord refers to Himself as the door. And we
know that He is the door. But what is the door to this
sheepfold? Well, we know it's Christ. We
know it's Christ. But let me tell you what it is
in particular. This is the law. This is the law of Almighty God.
And this law right here is the one that's going to have to be
satisfied before the sheep of God can be led out of this sheepfold. In this world today, this great
sheepfold that houses everybody, there's one that can lead anyone
out of the sheepfold. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And before that porter, that door, is going to be opened,
that shepherd, whoever leads out his sheep, that door, that
porter is going to have to say, I'm satisfied. You can take them
out. The Lord Jesus Christ says that
he that entereth not by the door, into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as the thief and the robber." Anyone
that thinks that he entered in to draw out, you Pharisees that
think, you false Pharisees, you false preachers that are preaching,
that you can be let out by free will. Man-centered, man-works,
man's obedience, religion. You're trying to climb in some
other way. The law is going to have to be
honored. God's law is going to have to be obeyed. And there's
one that went in by the door. He that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. He that obeyed God's law. He
that accomplished all that Almighty God demanded. He is the shepherd
of the sheep. Everyone else is a thief and
a liar. Christ alone has entered by the
door of the satisfaction of God's love. All others, you're just
thieves and robbers. You have one thought. To rob
God of His honor. To rob God of His glory. You're
a thief saying that Almighty God is not sovereign. That Almighty
God does not have a people. That Almighty God wants to save
everybody. That's a lie. You're a thief. You're a robber. There's only
one way. That men are justly led out of
the yard, out of the sheepfold. And that's by satisfaction to
God's law. To Him, verse 3, to Him, to Christ
alone, the porter openeth. And the sheep hear His voice,
and He calleth His own sheep by name, and He leadeth them
out. Galatians 3.23 says, but before
faith came, before God called us out of darkness, before God
regenerated us by His grace, we were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. We couldn't
get out. Men might climb over the wall,
thieves and robbers, and be in the midst of the sheepfold saying,
I can get you out. I can get you out. Let me tell
you how I can get you out. All you have to do is accomplish
this. All you've got to do is exercise
this faith. All you've got to do. The portal
does not open to them. They're thieves. They're robbers. Until Christ The object of our
faith came and fulfilled and satisfied God's law. We were
kept under the law of God. Kept. The law was our instructor. Let me tell you what that porter
said right there. To all that's in the sheepfold, you have no
hope until I be satisfied. You have no hope I want you to
notice that the porter didn't call. The porter opened to Christ
that called. To Him the porter openeth. When He calls, He calls in power. And the sheep, I'm talking about
the sheep of God. God's elect. When He calls, the
Spirit of God gives them ears to hear. And they know. The only
reason that I'm able to walk out of here following Him, trusting
Him, is because He satisfied the door out of His sheepfold. Outside of that, I would have
no hope. They hear His voice. They follow
Him. He calls them by name. Our Lord
Jesus Christ truly, in closing, I know this, He truly was sent
to the nation of Israel. I know that. Scripture says,
Matthew 15, 24, the Lord said, I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. As God's prophet, in the discharge
of His personal ministry, He was sent by His Father to the
Jews. Romans 15.8 says, Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister
of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises
made unto the fathers. But our Lord, as God's priest,
as God's Savior, as God's Redeemer, was sent to make satisfaction
for the sins of all God's elect. Our Lord said in John 10.16,
Other sheep I have. which are not of this fold, them
also I must bring, I must bring, I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." There's a sheepfold that holds
all manner of flocks. There is a sheepfold. There's
a yard. All men are born into it. In this world's false religion,
I'm telling you, there's a sheepfold. Within that sheepfold, in that
yard, God has a people. A sheep, an elect, a bride, some
wheat, and a porter. God's law. He was the one that
watched The way out? No one got out until he was satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ entered
in by the door into the sheepfold. God's appointed way. He obeyed God's law in word and
thought and deed. He obeyed God. He put away the
sins of His people being made sin for them. He obeyed God's
law and Almighty God was satisfied of its every demand. And all
others that tried to enter in and draw out their flocks You
just name whatever denomination you want to name. As I've said
before, they're all the same. They're all the same. They just
have a different shingle. They just have a different title.
It's all works-based religion. And they say, I can lead my flock
out. I'm going to take this denomination
out, Neil. Join up with us. I'll get you
out. I'll tell you how to do it. Do
this, this, this, this, and this. All you've got to do, they're
thieves. They're robbers. They're lying. They're lying.
They're lying. They're lying. Our Lord said,
everybody that tries to enter into this sheepfold, this yard,
where all mankind is found, And they don't come by the door,
by the porter, by the satisfaction of God's law, the one way out
of captivity. They're thieves. And one day, men are going to
know it. The law has been satisfied. Everybody that thought they could
enter in climbing over the walls and climbing in some other way,
no. I'll tell you this today, God's sheep are called out of
darkness, called out of the sheepfold, called out of the yard by the
shepherd. The same way, God's people, here
God's preachers, set forth the shepherd who alone has entered
in by the door, by the door of God's law, And that door was
satisfied. And he entered in and satisfied
God's demand for justice, righteousness as a man. And he calls his sheep
out. And he's still calling his sheep
out. And his sheep hear his voice. And he draws them out of darkness
of unbelief, out of the captivity. of sin and rebellion against
God. And He leads them out. And they
follow Him. He leads them out unto the pastures
of His providing. Lord, thanks be unto God that
You would give us understanding that there's one way. Christ
said, I am the way. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.